Feed mechanism for strip package machine



Aug. 10, 1965 J. H. STROOP Re. 25,839

FEED wcwusm FOR s'mr memes MACHINE Original Filed Nov. 17, 1960 4Sheets-Sheet 1 mlizilimumu em IN V EN TOR.

4 TIDE/iffy Aug. 10, 1965 J. H. STROOP Re. 25,839

FEED MECHANISM FOR STRIP PACKAGE MACHINE Original Filed Nov. 17, 1960 4Sheets-Sheet 2 44 F5. E. T15 3. 4,5 45 1 4/ t. O 5/ 40 g i 5 4 L 0 1 u46 3/ /4 g 4 40 2; H if] r 37% M /Z Z, H A;

i 1 i 1 55 I7 /4 57 I V J2 INVENTOR.

JoH/v SmooP Aug. 10, 1965 J. H. STROOP FEED MECHANISM FOR STRIP PACKAGEMACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet :5

Original Filed Nov. 17. 1960 INVENTOR. Jb/m/ fi Jm w ml Aug. 10, 1965 J.H. STROOP FEED MECHANISM FOR STRIP PACKAGE MACHINE Original Filed Nov.17, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 iiif/iilili INVENTOR Jmoa flTfOfK/[V UnitedStates Patent 28 Claims. (Cl. 53-180) Matter enclosed in heavy brackets1 appears in the original patent but forms no part of this reissuespecification; matter printed in italics indicates the additions made byreissue.

This invention relates to feed mechanism for packaging machines and isparticularly well adapted for use with such strip packaging machines asthat shown and described in Stroop United States patent applicationSerial No. 822,085, filed June 22, 1959, which is copending with thisapplication, now Patent No. 3,054,236, issued September 18, 1962.

One object of this invention is to provide a feed mechanism which iseffective in handling powdered or granular materials to be packaged.Such materials have a strong tendency to cake, particularly if they arefinely powdered materials, and difficulty has hitherto been experiencedin periodically feeding measured quantities of such materials to a strippackaging machine for continuous operation so as to produce a largenumber of packages at high speed with precisely the same quantity ofmaterial in each.

Another object is to provide a simple feed mechanism which includes asingle hopper or box-like container into which the powdered or granularmaterial is fed in bulk, together with a plurality of independent outlettubes (sometimes referred to as feed tubes or conduits), each havingmeans which extends through the hopper containing the bulk material andadvances the material through the tubes. The machine may, of course, bemade with a single feed tube, but the mechanism of my invention isunusually well adapted for a number of such tubes, which may vary fromthree to six, or even more, and thus greatly increase the capacity inpackages per minute which can be handled by the packaging machine withwhich the feed mechanism is associated.

Other objects and advantages will readily be understood from thefollowing description and drawings to which reference Will now be had:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation partially in section and partially brokenaway to shown the interior of the feed hopper of a feed mechanismembodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation at right angles to FIG. 1 and taken onthe line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partially sectional elevation on the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a detail view on a larger scale of the feed anger with drivehead and valve attached thereto;

FIG. 5 is a partial view of a modified feed structure, which alsoembodies my invention, taken in section corresponding to FIG. 2 but on alarger scale with part of the hopper and feed actuating mechanism brokenaway;

FIG. 6 is a sectional plan view on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional elevation of another modified feed structure whichalso embodies my invention; and

FIG. 8 corresponds to FIG. 7 but shows an alternative feed actuatingdevice which includes a clutch mechanism.

Having special reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the feed mechanism comprisesa frame 10, a hopper 11 attached to the frame and having a removableside plate 12 which is attached to the frame by screws 13 or othersuitable means so that it can be readily removed for access to the lowerend of the hopper through which the feed Re. 25,839 Reissued Aug. 10,1965 "ice devices extend, as hereinafter explained. The hopper 11 isnormally supplied with a large quantity of the powdered or granularmaterial, as indicated at 14 in FIG. 2, and the hopper has aconventional agitating mechanism 15 which creates sufficient vibrationin the hopper to insure that the bulk material 14 continues to flowdownwardly therein.

Projecting downwardly from the lower strut 16 of the frame 10 are feedtubes 17, three of which are illustrated in FIG. 1 and are adequate toshow the possibility of employing a considerably larger number incommercial practice to increase the capacity of the packaging machinewith which the feed mechanism is used, in packages per minute.

A combined valve and feed mechanism extends from the top of the framell) downwardly through the hopper and through the feed tube andcomprises a valve 20, a feed auger 21 to which the valve is attached asby welding or soldering at the lower end.

The auger is preferably formed of a flat strip of tool steel formed intoa helix, as clearly shown on a larger scale in FIG. 4.

An upper valve stem 22 is fastened to the feed auger 21 at the top andis mounted in the bearing 23 in the frame strut 16. Above the bearingthe valve stem is provided with a collar 25 which is brought into or outof contact with clutch plate 26 driven by sprocket wheel 27 and suitablechain 28.

Above the collar 25 the feed auger valve stem 22 extends through anopening in frame 10 and has an enlargement or head 30 at the top, ahelical spring 31 being interposed between the head 30 and the frame 10and surrounding the valve stem. The arrangement is such that the entirevalve structure, including the upper stem 22, the feed auger 21, whichis comparatively rigid, and the valve 20, is lifted to closed positionand the collar 25 is separated from the clutch plate 26 and contacts astop brake plate 34 by the action of the spring except when a solenoidis energized. The solenoid has a plunger 41 pivotally attached to oneend of a cross link 42, the opposite end of which is pivotally mountedon a suitable yoke 43 attached to the frame 10.

Cross link 42 has a nut 44 pivoted loosely at about the center, and athumb screw 45 is threaded through the nut 44 and has a pointed end 46which bears on the head 30 at the top of the feed auger valve stem 22.

When the solenoid is actuated, its plunger 41 is pulled downwardly andthe thumb screw 45 forces the feed auger valve stem downwardly againstthe action of the spring 31 making an operating contact between thecollar 25 and the clutch plate 26. In this way the feed anger is pusheddownwardly to open valve 20 and is rotated to deliver a predeterminedquantity of the powdered or granular material 14 out through the openvalve at the bottom of the tube 17. The stroke of the valve mechanismmay be varied to insure the desired valve seating and opening, byadjusting the thumb screw 45.

As clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a pair of rotary dies 50, 51 aremounted in parallel with their axes at right angles to feed tube 17which extends between them. Web rolls 52, 53 are mounted on oppositesides of the feed mechanism, as shown in FIG. 2, and the webs, which arepreferably formed of thermoplastic material, are drawn over guide pins54, 55, thence under guide pins 56 and over guide pins 57. Pins 57 arelocated close to the feed tube 17, and the pins 56 are close to the pins57 but directly over the rotary dies 50, 51. The webs are fed downwardlyas above described, or by any suitable means, between the die rolls 50,51, and heat is supplied to the die rolls 50, 51 by any suitable means,such as electric heaters (not shown) or by other suitable means. The dierolls, in addition to acting to feed the webs downwardly, constituterotary presses which form longitudinal seams 60, thus producing hollowtubes of packaging material into which the feed tubes 17 extend.

The hollow tubes of packaging material may be formed in any well knownmanner and are the source of supply for the individual packages.

Below the rotary dies 50, 51 another pair of rotary dies 62, 63 aremounted and are so formed as to produce transverse seals in the webswhich are now in the form of tubes, thereby producing a bottom seal forone package and a top seal for the next package as the dies 62, 63 arerotated.

The dies 50, 51 are rotatably mounted on axles 64, supported in oneframe block 65, and the rotary dies 62, 63 also have axles 66, supportedin an independent frame 67. The frames 65 and 67 are attached to thebody of the machine 69 so as to be very readily detached, by the use ofonly two bolts for example, in the manner shown and described in myPatent No. 3,054,236, above referred to.

The frame 67 may be adjusted upwardly towards or downwardly away fromblock 65, thereby decreasing or increasing the size of the packages asdesired.

As the webs now formed into strip packages continue downwardly from therotary dies 62, 63, they may be accumulated in a series of attachedpackages or segregated into individual packages, as for example byknives 70, as clearly shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, a motor 75 is mounted on the body 69 of the machineand drives vertical shaft 77, through bevel gears 76, to which sprocketwheel 78 is attached. This sprocket wheel 78 is connected to thesprocket wheels 27 for turning the several valve stems and feed augersby sprocket chain 28.

Referring particularly to FIGS. and 6, a comparatively light helicalspring 80 surrounds the feed auger 21 within the hopper. This spring isfor the purpose of agitating and stirring the powdered or granularmaterial in the hopper to prevent clogging and to permit the feed augerto operate in its intended manner.

The spring 80 may merely loosely surround the auger within the hopper,in which case the feed auger is turned and the spring is relativelystationary or moves to some extent with the material but tends to breakit up and prevent caking.

The preferred arrangement, however, is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, in whichthe spring 80 is welded or soldered to the upper end of the feed auger21 in an eccentric posi tion whereby the rotation of the valve stem andfeed auger will also rotate the spring 80, but on account of theeccentric attachment, the spring will travel around the feed auger anddo a particularly etfective job in stirring the material and preventingcaking.

Referring now more specifically to FIG. 7, the structure here showncorresponds largely to that of FIG. 2, except that a valve 85, whichcorresponds to valve 20, has a long rod constituting a rigid stem 86,and the feed auger 87, which corresponds to the auger 21, surrounds thevalve stem and at its upper end is attached to a sleeve 88 which may berotated continuously by sprocket wheel 89. In this case the valve 85 isbiased to a closed position and is periodically opened to dischargequantities of material from the feed tube 17 into the web pockets, asalready explained.

An alternative structure is shown in FIG. 8, corresponding parts in thisfigure being marked the same as in FIG. 7. As here shown, a drive tube90 extends through the frame and through its lower strut 16. A collar 91is mounted on the tube 90 and aflixed thereto by a set screw 92. Thecollar 91 is located between tube clutch plates 93, 94, the latter beingattached to and driven by a sprocket wheel 95. A cup-shaped collar 100is attached to the tube 90 near the top by a set screw 101 and a thrustbearing 102 has its lower ball race fixed in the collar 100. Anotherthrust bearing 103 has its upper ball race attached to the tube 90 and ahelical spring 104 is interposed between the ball races and holds thevalve 85 closed except when a downward thrust is periodically applied toopen the valve and discharge a given quantity of the material into thepackage tube, as already described. When the valve is open, as shown inFIG. 8, the collar 91 is forced against the clutch plate 94, which isrotated by the sprocket wheel 95. Thus the tube 90, the helical feedauger 87 are rotated, and the powdered or granular material is advancedand discharged in a predetermined quantity into the package tube beforethe valve is again closed.

The member 96 may be solenoid operated or otherwise actuated toperiodically discharge measured quantities of material.

An important factor of the invention is the coordination of the openingof the valve at the outlet of the feed tube and the rotation of the feedauger. Both of these actions are simultaneous and momentary and are ofgreat importance to insure the delivery of exact and equal quantities ofpowdered material to each successive pocket of the strip package.

Free flowing granular substances have been successfully packaged byrelying on gravity feed, but this is not feasible in the packaging offinely powdered materials which tend to cake.

From the operation of the machine as above described, it will beunderstood that the solenoid 40 of FIG. 2 is actuated once for eachindividual strip package being filled. Thus, if the single feed tube orconduit is filling packages, for example, at the rate of a minute, thesolenoid will be actuated at the rate of 80 a minute, and at eachactuation the feed tube valve is opened and a rotary movement isimparted to the auger.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit ofthe invention, and only such limitations should be imposed as areindicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A feed mechanism for powdered or granular material which comprises acontainer in which quantities of such material are maintained in bulk, afeed tube extending outwardly from the container and connectedtherewith, a relatively inflexible helical feed auger Within the feedtube, a valve attached to the outer end of the feed auger, means forperiodically rotating the feed auger and moving the feed auger to openthe valve, a relatively flexible helical spring mounted within the bulkcontainer around the feed auger, and means for ratating the spring tokeep the material agitating within the bulk container.

2. A feed mechanism for powdered or granular material which comprises acontainer in which quantities of such material are maintained in bulk, afeed tube extending outwardly from the container and connectedtherewith, a relatively inflexible helical feed auger within thecontainer and the feed tube, the feed tube having a relatively largeopening as compared with the helical feed auger, a valve at the outerend of the feed tube attached to the helical feed auger, a flexiblehelical spring eccentrically mounted within the bulk container aroundthe feed auger, means for rotating the feed auger to force materialtoward the valve opening, means for periodically moving the feed augerlongitudinally of the tube to open and close the valve, and means foreccentrically rotating the spring to agitate the material around thefeed auger.

3. A feed mechanism for powdered or granular material which comprises ahopper in which the material to be fed is maintained in bulk, a feedtube extending downwardly from the hopper and connected to receivematerial therefrom, a stiff helical feed auger having an open centralpassage and loosely mounted within the feed tube, a valve attached tothe bottom end of the feed auger, means for periodically rotating thefeed auger and moving the feed auger longitudinally of the feed tube toopen the valve, and a flexible helical spring mounted within the hopperaround the feed auger and means for rotating the spring to agitate thematerial within the hopper as it enters the feed tube.

4. A feed mechanism for powdered or granular material which comprises ahopper in which the material to be fed is maintained in bulk, at leastone feed tube extending downwardly from the hopper and connected toreceive material therefrom, a stiff helical feed auger having an opencentral passage and loosely mounted within the feed tube and within thehopper, a valve attached to the bottom end of the feed auger, means forperiodically rotating the feed auger and moving the feed augerlongitudinally of the feed tube to open the valve, and a flexiblehelical spring eccentrically mounted around the feed auger within thehopper and means for eccentrically rotating the spring around the feedauger to agitate the material in the hopper as it enters the feed tube.

5. A feed mechanism for powdered or granular material comprising atubular conduit, a still helical feed auger loosely located therein, avalve at the outlet of the conduit actuated by the feed auger, andautomatic means for periodically both rotating the feed auger andreciprocating the feed auger to open the valve.

6. A feed mechanism for powdered or granular material comprising atubular conduit, a still helical feed auger loosely located therein, avalve at the outlet of the conduit attached to the feed auger, automaticmeans for periodically rotating the feed auger and for simultaneouslyreciprocating the feed auger to open the valve.

7. A feed mchanism for powdered or granular mate rial comprising ahopper, a tubular conduit connected to the hopper, means in the hopperand in the tubular conduit for mechanically advancing the materialthrough the tubular conduit, a flexible helical spring within the hopperaround the means for advancing the material, and means for rotating saidflexible spring to agitate the material being advanced from the hopperto the tubular conduit.

8. A feed mechanism for powdered or granular material comprising ahopper, a tubular conduit, a feed auger within the hopper and within thetubular conduit for advancing the material therethrough, a flexiblehelical spring within the hopper around the feed auger, and means forrotating said flexible spring to agitate the material being advancedfrom the hopper into the conveyor tubular conduit.

9. A feed mechanism for powdered or granular material comprising ahopper, a tubular conduit connected thereto, a feed auger extendingthrough the tubular conduit and into the hopper for advancing thematerial therethrough, a flexible helical spring eccentrically mountedupon the feed auger within the hopper, and means for eccentricallyrotating said flexible spring for agitating the material in the hopper.

10. A feed mechanism for powdered or granular material which comprises ahopper, a tubular conduit connected thereto, a stiff helical feed augerloosely located within the tubular conduit and extending into thehopper, a valve at the outlet of the conduit actuated by the feed auger,means for imparting a longitudinal and a rotary movement to the feedauger to open and close the valve and to feed the material, a flexiblespring to agitate the ing the feed auger within the hopper, and meansfor eccentrically rotating said flexible spring to agitate the materialbeing advanced by the feed auger.

11. A strip packaging machine comprising a pair of cooperating rotarydies having spaced annular sealing projections, a feed tube extendingthrough the dies in the space between said sealing projections, meansfor supplying packaging webs between the dies around the feed tube, anauger feed within the tube, a valve attached to the end of the augerfeed, means for periodically rotating the auger feed and moving itlongitudinally to open the valve, and a second pair of rotary dies belowthe discharge end of the feed tube for sealing the webs transversely.

12. A strip packaging machine comprising a pair of cooperating rotarydies having spaced annular sealing projections, a feed tube extendingthrough the dies in the space between said sealing projections, meansfor supplying packaging Webs between the dies around the feed tube, anauger feed within the tube, a valve attached to the end of the augerfeed, means for periodically rotating the auger feed and moving itlongitudinally to open the valve, a second pair of rotary dies below thedischarge end of the feed tube for sealing the webs transversely, andmeans for cutting the webs at the seal to produce a plurality ofindividual, sealed packages.

[13. A feed mechanism for powdered or granular material comprising ahopper, a tubular conduit, a feed auger within the hopper and within thetubular conduit for advancing the material therethrough, helical meanswithin the hopper around the feed auger, and means for rotating saidhelical means to agitate the material being advanced from the hopperinto the tubular conduit] 14. A feed mechanism for powdered materialcomprising a hopper, a tubular conduit connected thereto and a feedauger extending through the tubular conduit and into the hopper forpositively advancing material therethrough, eccentric helical meansmounted upon the feed auger within the hopper and means for rotatingsaid eccentric helical means for agitating the material and toreing itagainst the feed auger to insure its advancement through the tubularconveyor.

15. A feed mechanism comprising a hopper adapted to contain finelydivided solid material, a feed tube connected to the hopper and arrangedto receive material therefrom, a feed auger extending through the hopperand to the outlet end of the feed tube, a valve attached to the feedauger at its outer end, a friction clutch drive for the feed auger,means for continuously rotating the clutch drive and means attached tothe feed auger for moving the feed auger longitudinally to open thevalve and to close the clutch to rotatably actuate the feed auger.

16. A feed mechanism comprising a hopper adapted to contain finelydivided solid material, a feed tube connected to the hopper and arrangedto receive material therefrom, a feed auger extending through the hopperand through the feed tube, a valve attached to the outer end of the feedauger, automatic means for periodically rotating the feed auger andadjustable means for simultaneously moving the feed auger longitudinallyto open the valve.

17. A feed mechanism comprising a hopper, a feed tube connected to thehopper, a helical feed auger extending through the tube and within thehopper having a central longitudinal opening therein, a valve at theoutlet end of the feed tube, a valve stem attached to the valve andextending through the longitudinal opening of the feed auger, means forperiodically imparting a longitudinal movement to the valve stem to openand close the valve, and means for imparting a rotary movement to thefeed auger to advance the material through the feed tube when the valveis open.

18. In a strip packaging machine having a pair of cooperating rotarydies having spaced annular sealing projections, a hopper, a feed tubeconnected to the hopper and extending through the dies in the spacebetween said sealing projections and means for supplying packaging Websbetween the dies around the feed tube, a feed mechanism comprising ananger feed within the hopper and the feed tube, a valve at the end ofthe feed tube attached to the feed auger, and means for periodicallyrecipro eating and rotating the feed auger to open the valve and force apredetermined amount of finely divided material through the open valveof the feed tube.

19. A feed mechanism for powdered material which tends to cake or bridgecomprising a tubular conduit, a helical feed auger adapted to supplysaid material to the tubular conduit, automatic means for opening andclosing one end of the tubular conduit and for imparting a rotary motionto the feed auger to positively force a predetermined amount of materialeach time the tubular conduit is open.

20. A feed mechanism comprising a hopper, a feed tube connected to thehopper, a feed auger in the hopper, a valve sealing one end of the feedtube, means for periodically moving the feed tube and valve relative toeach other in an axial direction to open the valve, and automatic meanscoordinated with the valve opening for periodically imparting a rotarymovement to the feed auger to discharge a predetermined quantity offinely divided material through the valve opening.

21. A strip packaging machine comprising a pair of cooperating rotarydie-s having spaced annular sealing projections, a feed tube extendingthrough the dies in the space between said sealing projections, meansfor supplying packaging webs between the dies around the feed tube, anauger feed within the tube, a valve attached to the end of the augerfeed, means for periodically rotating the auger feed and producing arelative longitudinal movement between the auger feed and the feed tubeto open the valve, and a second pair of rotary dies below the dischargeend of the feed tube for sealing the webs transversely.

22. A strip packaging machine comprising a pair of cooperating rotarydies, a feed tube extending through the dies, means for supplyingpackaging webs between the dies around the feed tube, an auger feedwithin the tube, a valve at the end of the feed tube, and means actingin an axial direction for periodically opening the valve andsimultaneously rotating the auger feed to discharge a predeterminedquantity of material.

23. A feed mechanism comprising a hopper, a feed tube connected to thehopper, a helical feed auger extending through the tube and within thehopper having a central longitudinal opening therein, a valve at theouter end of the feed tube, a valve stem attached to the valve andextending through the longitudinal opening in the feed auger, means forperiodically moving the valve stem and the feed tube relative to eachother to permit the discharge of measured quantities of finely dividedmaterial from the feed tube, and means for periodically imparting alimited rotary movement to the auger.

24. A feed mechanism for powdered or granular material comprising atubular conduit, a stiff helical feed auger loosely located therein,automatic means acting axially for opening and closing the outlet end ofthe tubular conduit and for imparting a rotary motion to the feed augereach time the tubular conduit is open.

25. A feed mechanism for strip packaging machines' comprising a feedauger having a shaft at the outer end and a valve at the inner end, ahopper adapted to contain a supply of powdered material, through whichthe outer portion of the auger extends, a feed tube connected to thehopper, through which the inner end of the feed auger extends, saidvalve being attached to the feed auger at its inner end and adapted toopen and close the discharge end of the feed tube, a collar rotatablymounted I on the shaft means for continuously rotating the collar, asecond collar attached to the shaft in friction clutch relation to thefirst collar, a spring for moving the shaft longitudinally to close thevalve and disengage the clutch, and a pulsating motor adapted to movethe shaft in opposition to the spring to simultaneously open the valveand engage the clutch whereby an instantaneous rotary feed motion of theauger feed discharges a predetermined amount of the powdered materialthrough the open valve.

26. A strip packaging machine comprising a pair of cooperating rotarydies having spaced annular sealing projections, a feed tube extendingthrough the dies in the space between said sealing projections, meansfor supplying packaging webs between the dies around the feed tube, anauger feed above the tube adapted to discharge finely divided materialinto the tube, a valve attached to the end of the auger feed, means forperiodically rotating the auger feed and producing a relativelongitudinal movement between the auger feed and the feed tube to openthe valve, whereby finely divided material is discharged, and a secondpair of rotary dies below the discharge end of the feed tube for sealingthe webs transversely.

27. A feed mechanism comprising a hopper, a feed tube connected to thehopper, a helical feed auger within the hopper having a centrallongitudinal opening therein, a valve at one end of the feed tube, avalve stem attached to the valve and extending through the longitudinalopening in the feed auger, means for periodically moving the valve stemand the feed tube relative to each other to permit the discharge ofmeasured quantities of finely divided material, and means forperiodically imparting a limited rotary movement to the auger.

28. A strip packaging machine comprising a hopper adapted to containpowdered material to be packaged, a feed tube adapted to receivepowdered material from the hopper, means for advancing packaging stripsaround the feed tube to receive -material therefrom, a helical feedauger extending into the hopper, valve means [for opening and closing]acting axially to open and close the feed tube, means for simultaneously[opening] actuating the valve means and imparting a temporary rotarymotion to the feed auger whereby a predetermined quantity of saidpowdered material is discharged by the auger feed each time the valvemeans is opened.

29. A strip packaging machine comprising a pair of cooperating rotarydies, a hopper containing powdered material, a. feed auger in thehopper, a feed tube extending through the dies, means for supplyingpackaging webs between the dies around the feed tube, means acting in anaxial direction for periodically opening and closing the feed tube andmeans for imparting a rotary motion to the feed auger each time the feedtube is open.

References Cited by the Examiner The following references, cited by theExaminer, are of record in the patented file of this patent or theoriginal patent.

UNITED STATES PATENTS GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, 1a., Primary Examiner.

0 FRANK E. BAILEY, Examiner.

